Q. I bought a 4K TV to get the Thursday Night Football games in 4K. So my question is: Will Fox have the Super Bowl in 4K. If so, the party will be at my house. The 4K games look so much better. — Aaron, Pittsburgh.
Aaron, the Super Bowl has never been in 4K. In fact, no NFL game had ever been available in 4K until September 26 of this year when DIRECTV, Optimum, Verizon and fuboTV aired the first contest (Packers vs. the Eagles) in the new picture format. (Dish joined the list later in the season.)
See an update on this story here.
Fox, which has the broadcast rights to Thursday Night Football, has decided to produce the showcase games in 4K. (Fox also is offering a 4K stream of the Thursday games on its Fox and Fox Sports Now apps.)
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So will this lead to a 4K broadcast of the 2020 Super Bowl, which will be played February 2 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami?
Answer: Yes!
During Fox’s quarterly analyst call on November 6, company CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed that Fox will offer a 4K stream of the game.
“We’re excited to be the first broadcaster ever to stream the Super Bowl in 4K. It will be a groundbreaking experience for fans,” Murdoch said.
The Fox executive did not offer further details, such as which streaming devices will offer the 4K stream. (The Thursday Night 4K stream is available on select Apple and Roku devices.)
He also did not say which, if any, pay TV providers will offer the Super Bowl in 4K. So I will monitor this situation and report back here when we get more information on Fox’s 4K plans for the 2020 Super Bowl.
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By the way, Murdoch did say Fox’s Thursday Night Football 4K stream is now being watched by roughly 10 percent of the total Fox streaming audience.
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— Phillip Swann
4K stream??? what about local channels that have rights.
Will 4K stream only be in markets with no OTA fox network.
O and O markets only with local ad’s switched in???
Cable with in market 4k local feed. and maybe dish or directv if they can have an LOCAL 4K feed.